The Dragon Princess
by TorketteMonkette
Summary: (newly edited version) AU. Theron and the gang have continued their adventures but, this time around, they've run into bigger problems. DRAGON-sized problems! The heir to the dragon throne is threatened by Rosco unless he hands the crown over to him. Theron gets volunteered to get them out of the problem. What ends will she go to in order to save a dragon? Rated T for minor things.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I quite obviously do not own anything that has to do with The Monkees. I did change up their personalities a little (just Peter, actually) but that doesn't mean that I own them. Anyone can do that, as long as it makes sense.

**Claimer: **I do own all other characters, though. Yay.

**A/N: **Hello, guys! Welcome back to the Rebel Princess universe.  
I shall apologize ahead of time if you come across any typos or such like - also, if you find a sea of text, I so greatly apologize for that. I know how it is to be faced with that. I've completely dropped stories for that. Sad, but true.  
And there shall not be many author's notes in this story. I'm being nice here, okay. Not that you guys read those anyway.

* * *

Do you remember the night that Micky was drunk and said that he saw a dragon? Well, it turned out that he wasn't lying - as I had suspected. He really had seen a dragon.

This time I'm going to tell you about the time the guys and I met a couple of DRAGONS!

It had been a few months (around six or seven at the most) when I walked out of that palace with my only friends. My best friends.  
It was getting late and we were all gathered around our campfire, finishing off the dinner we managed to cook up while talking and laughing like any other group of friends would do.  
Suddenly Micky jumped to his feet. His brown eyes grew wide as he looked up at the sky and peered out into the darkness around us.  
"...did you feel that?" he asked all of us, still searching the darkness.  
"Yeah, that breeze felt lovely!" David spread his arms out, hoping for another.  
"No! It was a dragon!" Micky insisted before he scurried around the fire to my side. "Theron, the dragon is back!"  
"Micky, don't be silly." I smiled convincingly. "If it did it would have snatched us up and taken us away!"  
But a simple smile couldn't sway him. "Peter!" he cried, "We're going to die!"  
Peter glanced up at Micky, looking very unamused, and then turned back to Mike whom he was about to speak to.  
Mike was such a quiet guy. At times he was my "favorite" out of the four.

_-WHOOSH!-_

"Did you feel that?!" Micky repeated himself, clinging tightly onto Peter's shirt.  
"Well duh!" David exclaimed back at him in response, now feeling pretty sure that there was a "dragon".

All of a sudden I felt like I was being lifted off of the ground. I stared down as my feet rose from the ground beneath me. My shirt was choking me at the neck as the five of us were snatched and carried away.  
We were in the claws of a giant bird, it seemed. That is, until I felt something really rather rough and scaly rub the back of my neck. ...a dragon?

Micky seized all of us into a great hug, holding onto us for dear life. "I love you guys!"  
Micky really was a brave guy... all of us were rather brave individuals, but this situations put all of us into a state of shock and pure terror.  
I felt like I wanted to laugh and scream at the same time – I was somewhat tickled and still terrified. Has that ever happened to you? It's a strange feeling.  
David looked as if he had blacked out while Peter tried to remain calm (just like the rest of us, minus David) but you could still see the fear in his brown eyes. I'm positive my eyes were gleaming in the moonlight with unshed tears of horror, just like the others'.

We flew over towns and forest and all the things in between – you wouldn't believe what was going on during that time and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be there for anything!  
Soon the dragon began to circle over a dark area that I couldn't make out in the darkness (it's huge body happened to block the moonlight) and he slowly dropped us onto the ground before landing somewhere himself.  
Laying on the cool grass, I glanced over at the guys. They all had their eyes closed, as if the other three passed out like David. I shuddered.  
I noticed around half a dozen other dragons coming into the clearing from the dark night. One, the one that stood out to me the most, looked like it shone silver in the moonlight. It sniffed the guys and me and then picked me up with it's mouth and sat me far away from the guys.  
What was it doing? Was it going to eat me or the guys?  
At that moment I immediately wished that I'd never left home. None of us would have ever gotten into this mess – any of the messes that we got into.  
Then all was black. I fainted.

When I woke up, I found I was in a dim and cold room. I wanted to call it a cave but there were lit candles on the walls. The place looked like a rather nice home... a manor... a palace!  
I felt like an ant compared to the tall walls and wide hallways as I wandered about the room that I was in. Bookcases lined the stone walls and rugs were scattered on the cool floor.  
I browsed the shelves out of curiosity when a slender, greenish looking dragon glided through the hall. "Hello, dear! It's nice to see you up and moving around!" it said. It sounded like a kindly old woman – kind of like old Miss Veronica.  
"Um, yes... where are my friends?" I stared at the dragon in bewilderment. Had it just talked...?  
"They're with Elderon." it said simply.  
"Wh-what are they doing there?" I stammered, fearing for their lives and mine – no matter how nice this dragon sounded.  
"He's finding a proper dragon for them."  
My mind swirled around in confusion. I just woke up in a large room with books and candles and then a _dragon_ came in and started talking..?!  
Was I dreaming..? Was I going to wake up by the firelight with one of the guys shaking me awake? I wished very hard that that would be the case and pinched myself secretly.  
"Can I see them?" I'd felt the pain of the pinch so that assured me that this was no dream. And since this wasn't a dream I would have to help the guys!  
"You will all be brought to the center after the Choosing so you may see them then." the dragon explained to me. "But if you shall get bored feel free to read some books!"  
She smiled, revealing several of her sharp teeth and turned, leaving me alone once again.

I sighed and glanced carelessly over at the books. I wasn't all that fond of books. I'd rather be read to than to read for myself.  
Although I felt such, I pulled likely choices from the shelves and sat down to leaf through them, hoping to find one that I was at least a little interested in.  
It seemed like ages before the slender dragon's voice called out to me from the halls. "Come along, dear!" it's voice echoed through the halls, sounding as if it were coming closer. "You can see your friends now."

I jumped to my feet and sped along after the dragon, leaving the pile of books on the floor. As soon as the dragon was through the entrance (of, what else but, a cave) and I could see out into the clearing (that was now lit by fire in the center) I immediately ran to hug my friends. We had gotten closer in the months we'd been together, of course, and were growing ever closer since.  
I hugged all four of them in turn and when I was done I backed up to get a good look at them (just to make sure that they weren't hurt). I noticed a long, fresh cut along the left side of Micky's face, leading down along his jaw.  
"What happened?" I gently pulled his face into my hands to study the cut. He shrugged with a soft grin, "Turns out that I'm going to be a babysitter for these dragons... there's a little rascal in there!"  
I gave him a small smile, patted his arm reassuringly and told him to be a little more careful. He nodded, saying that he definitely would.  
I then turned to the dragons. "So. What's all this..?!" I asked expectantly with an accusing edge to my tone.  
The dragon that spoke to me in the cave before piped up before the other few dragons standing around.  
"We just need more help around here these days..." it curved up it's lip, showing only a few of it's teeth this time. "You and your group seemed fit for the job. If you don't mind that is." Now it showed all of it's teeth, big and pale yellow.  
I felt a lot of my courage slip away at that moment, understanding that what the dragon was saying was a sort of warning.  
"Um...nope. We don't mind, eh, at all." I stumbled with the words. "We were actually j-just looking for something to do for a-a while. Heh."  
The dragon closed it's mouth back into the same sort of smile as before. "Very well."  
I looked anxiously back over at Peter and the others and they looked desperately back towards me.  
"Helpers" for dragons – what had we been snatched into..?


	2. Chapter 2

Being in the middle of spring it was pretty cool out. The cool, soft breezes that drafted in kept making me shiver and I couldn't stay asleep.  
When I heard "my" dragon snoring, I crept slowly down the hall, deciding to take a look around.  
I quickly pressed my back to the wall and quieted my breathing when I heard someone (or something) coming down the separate hall next to me.  
It was Micky. He rushed out of the cave, his breath shaking each time he exhaled. Concerned, I quickly followed after him.

Micky stood near to the entrance and whimpered quietly to himself but I couldn't make out any of the things he was saying.  
"...Micky." I whispered, inching out the front of the cave towards him.  
"Th-Theron... why aren't you asleep?" he asked me, but didn't turn around.  
"I couldn't sleep. How about you?"  
"I couldn't sleep either... but you should probably go back to bed, you know. Those dragons probably have something for us to do tomorrow."  
I stood there for a moment, thinking of something to say but made no move to go back to bed.  
"Go to bed, Theron." he growled. He immediately took a deep breath to calm himself.  
Then I _knew_ that there was something wrong – Micky never just ran away like a hurt puppy... there was something up. I stepped around to look at him and he turned his head (with a sniff) to hide his face.  
"There's something wrong..." I said to him quietly. "What is it?"  
"Nothing... go to bed."  
I spotted something strange stretching up his arm and I tugged it into the light. He had a long pink burn traveling up his fore-arm.  
"What happened?" I stared at the burn for a moment before looking back up at his face. He smiled weakly.  
"I already told you... that little rascal."  
_'Yeah, right...'_ I thought to myself.  
Tears were streaked down his face and were continuing to trickle down. After a moment of silent hesitation I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. He just stood there limply and put his chin on my shoulder.  
We stood there like that for a moment or two before I pulled away. "How about we bandage that up, huh?"  
He sniffed and nodded and I pulled him along behind me, going back into "my" section on the cave.

After I managed to bandage up his arm and clean the cut on his face to some extent, I let him lay down on the pallet that was serving as my bed and I sat next to him.  
"I should probably get back in there before he -erm, they notice that I'm gone." Micky tried to get up, but I pushed him back down.  
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure they'll understand." I assured. "Just go to sleep and get back there early in the morning."  
He sighed, giving in. "Okay... night, Theron."  
"Goodnight, Micky."

Micky was sound asleep when I made a plan to go see who this 'Little Rascal' was.  
I got off of the pallet and sneaked down the halls once again.  
I turned the corner and drifted into the other section of the cave. In the corner of one room there was a big, fiery red dragon, snorting loudly in it's sleep.  
_'That must be the 'Little Rascal'.'_ I smirked as I thought it.  
The rug was singed and there was a huge black mark up one of the walls. I guessed that it came from when Micky got burned.  
After a little more investigating and snooping around, I went back to the cave I was supposed to be in and dozed off next to Micky.

When I awoke the next morning Micky was still sleeping. He looked a little uncomfortable in his slumber and I bit on my lower lip in pity. Poor guy...  
I ventured out of the room that was "mine" and wandered around until I found the silvery-green dragon that claimed me as her own – I assumed that this dragon was a she because of her demeanor and not to mention her voice.  
"Good morning..." I said to her. She looked up at me from a giant book she had her nose in and smiled softly. "Afternoon, more like. You've nearly slept the day away!"  
I immediately froze. What had she just said? _Afternoon..?_ Micky was supposed to get up and go back to his dragon early on in the morning.  
"What's wrong, dear?" she asked kindly. I shook my head, "Um, nothing."  
I noticed that she was looking past me with a surprised expression. I jerked around to find Micky looking at the dragon in the same manner.  
"Um, I'm going to go now... I'll see you later, Theron." he slowly drifted away and as soon as he was out of sight it sounded as if he were running away as quickly as he could.  
"What was Rosco's human doing here?" she asked.  
"I, uh, he kind of wanted to stay with me and I figured that, erm, Rosco would understand..?" I stammered uncertainly. The silvery-green dragon looked as if she were thinking before she let out a hearty laugh.  
"I think I see what you mean..." she trailed off with a wink of one of her huge yellow eyes. I gasped in surprise.  
"Wh-what – no! We're not like that at all!" I denied what she was implying firmly as I shook my head.  
"Alright, dear... what was he really doing here since you seem to be certain that that is not the reason."  
"That dragon – Rosco!" I exclaimed. "He's a lunatic. He hurt Micky!"  
"Nonsense!" she replied. "Rosco is the kindest dragon I have ever met."  
"Seriously?!" I stared at her in astonishment and disbelief. She moved her head in a nod and I gaped more. "There's no way!"  
"He will not be pleased with the way you speak of him." she said. I shrugged. "People usually don't like the way I speak of them..."  
"He _especially_ won't like it."  
"Oh, yeah? And what exactly makes him so different?"  
"He's next in line for the dragon throne." she relied. I raised an eyebrow.  
"Is he Elderon's son?" I figured that Elderon must be the leader or Great Elder or other.  
"No, my dear, he's only Elderon's nephew."  
"Elderon doesn't have a son..?"  
"Oh, no." her brow furrowed but it slowly softened into a smile. "But he's going to be one of the best kings we've ever had."  
'_She's clearly been mislead by him.'_ I kept the thought to myself, sure that the dragon would deny it. _'The others probably are too.'  
_"Well, if you say so..." I knitted my brows as I spoke with uncertainty. With that the dragon asked me to find one of her treasure rooms and, after polishing all the things, to organize everything. I groaned internally but obeyed and set off for my work.  
This alone time was going to give me a while to think up a plan to prove that Rosco wasn't exactly what he seemed.


	3. Chapter 3

Early on in the week I advised Micky to do exactly as Rosco asked and to treat him like a king so he wouldn't get hurt anymore. I didn't tell him that Rosco was the heir, though – keeping things to myself is something well-known about me.  
Micky agreed and all was going well. He looked and acted a little less scared and stressed after each day passed and, needless to say, I was relieved.

"What's been going on with Micky?" Peter pulled me aside by my arm one day at the creek near the caves.  
"Well, his dragon was hurting him but, with my advice, he's been doing a lot better." I whispered to Peter.  
"Hurting him... - why doesn't he tell one of the other dragons?" Peter asked. "Like Elderon or someone?"  
I shook my head in response. "That won't help; the dragon's won't have any of it."  
"And why is that?"  
"Because, my dragon has said that Micky's dragon is the heir to the throne – and they all seem convinced that he's the epitome of kindness and goodness."  
"Oh... is he Rosco's son, then?" Peter questioned. "They don't look very much alike."  
"No." I replied quickly. "Rosco is his nephew, Elderon has no children as far as I can tell."

Maybe you're wondering why I told Peter all of this... there's a simple explanation for that, though.  
I trusted him when I revealed my secret and he's, well, sort of like a diary. I could tell him anything I wanted and he wouldn't judge me or tell anyone else. That's a good type of friend to have, yes?

"What are we going to do about it?" he asked. I shrugged.  
"I've been thinking about that for the past couple of nights but I'm not completely sure of anything yet."  
"That's why you've been so sluggish." He laughed at the realization. I nodded sheepishly and we got back to our work after he promised that he'd talk with me about a plan.

I straightened the last of the books on the shelves and wiped my hands on my pants. I breathed a sigh, "Done."  
"Are you?" 'my' dragon slithered into the room. I nodded.  
"I was going to go help Micky clean Rosco's cave as well."  
"That's very kind of you." the dragon replied. I took this as an okay and left to go help him.

"Hey, Micky, are you in here?"  
"Yeah, Theron. I'm in here." he called.  
I found him scrubbing the floor of an empty room.  
"What room is this?" I asked. Micky just shrugged, "One of the old treasure rooms. I have to bring all of Rosco's things into the king's quarters soon."  
"Oh, what for?" I questioned, acting oblivious to what I already knew.  
"Rosco's the heir to the throne seeing as how Elderon doesn't have a son – he's his nephew."  
"Really?"  
"Yup." Micky nodded solemnly, still scrubbing the floor. I raised an eyebrow.  
"Then what are you cleaning this room for?" I asked. "Instead of the rooms in the king's cave, I mean."  
"The little elf guy told me to." Micky replied in somewhat of a cheery tone.  
"...little elf guy?" I asked precariously. "Micky are you getting sick?"  
He sighed out a laugh. "No, Theron – there really is a little elf guy and he works for the King."  
"Oh... I didn't know that." I replied sincerely. I had no idea that the King had a 'little elf guy' to assist him.  
"So." Micky stopped scrubbing to sit up and look at me. "Are you going to help me or what?"  
"Oh – yeah, that's why I came."  
Micky grinned gratefully, "There's a bucket already filled with hot, soapy water in the corner over there, but you need to go find a cloth and a brush."  
"Alright." I nodded and wandered around in the different rooms of the cave until I found the 'kitchen'. I grabbed a cloth a brush and started back for Micky when I heard a squeaky voice.  
"Oi! Wha' are ye doin' 'ere?!" it said. I looked down to find a little guy with pointy ears glaring up at me with fiercely gray eyes.  
"Uh, sorry... I just came to help Micky." I explained. "You know.. many hands make light work?"  
"Oh, I see." the elf nodded. "I was jus' wonderin'."

I walked back to the old, empty treasure room with the elf guy following me. I looked down at him curiously as we walked.  
"I was jus' makin' sure ye weren't lyin'." he replied saucily, placing his hands on his hips and turning up his nose before leaving.  
"I see you've met him." Micky was watching us from the entrance of the treasure room.  
"Indeed." I made my way over to the bucket and dumped the brush and rag into it. Micky dragged his bucket to another part of the room and got back to work and I followed his lead.  
"This may take days..." I said.  
"I know, but it might be easier with your help."  
I suddenly got an idea and grinned, "You know, it would be a lot easier if we got the others to help out too. I'm sure they're not too busy."  
"That would be nice." Micky smiled but didn't look up from his work.  
'_Now making the plan, will be easier than ever.'_


	4. Chapter 4

The next day I went to go help Micky again. I also got the others (and their dragons) to agree and we all met in Rosco's cave.  
Jen, a girl who was a helper for Mike's dragon as well, tagged along.

"Why do you think they like us helping out Rosco instead of the King?" David asked, puzzled. Peter shrugged and Jen spoke up.  
"Elderon is ill and they want Rosco to be comfortable and prepared when it's time for his reign."  
"Which is when?" David spoke again. Jen rolled her eyes at him, "When the King dies."  
"Oh..."  
We found Micky in the same treasure room as the day before and he greeted us with a smile. "Hey, guys."  
We all set to work; scrubbing the wall and floor, polishing the last few things that were sitting around and talking about a plan.  
"Oi, why're dere more 'oomans?!" the little elf guy came in and demanded. The six of us immediately froze and stared at him.  
"Uh, cleaning..?" Mike offered, holding up a rag and the ring he was currently polishing.  
"Oh.. I see." With that he left us alone. I rubbed my forehead in relief. "That was a close one."

By the time we were done we still hadn't worked out a good plan. That was mostly because Micky wasn't willing to disobey Rosco and have a 99.99% chance of getting sliced or burned, so we had to start thinking of something else.  
"We'll think it over." Mike said for Jen and himself as they left to get back to their cave. Peter and David left as well, saying the same.  
"What are we going to do?" Micky sighed, leaning against one of the walls. I shook my head, "I have no idea... where's Rosco?"  
Micky shrugged, "Probably looking around the King's cave. He's been doing a lot of that lately."  
"I see." I nodded that I understood. "When is he supposed to be-?"  
Micky shushed me before I could finish and stared into space as if he were listening to something. I slowed my breathing and listened too to hear the sound of scales scraping against the cold, stone floor of the corridor.  
"Rosco..." Micky uttered quietly to himself, his breath getting a little shaky. I backed up to Micky in fear and a blue-ish gray head popped into the room, instead of a fiery red one.  
Micky and I gasped and the young looking dragon stared wide-eyed at us, frozen in the doorway.  
"Who are you?" it asked fearfully. "What are you doing here..?!"  
"Um, I'm Micky, Rosco's sla- er, helper." Micky stammered. I still stared at the dragon, not saying a word.  
"Oh..." the dragon muttered, allowing himself to move again. "I was looking for Rosco – where is he?"  
"He's in the King's cave."  
"Oh." the dragon frowned, "I can wait then."  
"Y-you look like Elderon." I sputtered out, still staring at the giant beast.  
He did – except he wasn't as gray and was obviously much younger... like he was his son?  
"Um..."  
"You do." Micky agreed. I looked into the dragon's pale silvery-blue eyes.  
"Are you related to Elderon?" I asked him. He quickly shook his head. "N-no! No. I'm not. I just happen to look like him." he laughed nervously and I raised an eyebrow.  
"Are you sure? The two of you look very similar..." I questioned. "What's your name?"  
"_Yes_, I'm sure."  
"Your name...?" Micky asked him again for me.  
"Oh, uh, I'm Hearthstone."  
"I'm Theron." I walked up to him and reached my hand out. I wasn't exactly sure what he would to do in response to that and I immediately regretted doing it.  
"Uh, nice to meet you." he dipped his head a little. "Are you Slategray's helper?"  
"I'm unsure.. she's never told me her name."  
"You are then – it's like her to forget to give out information like that. Sometimes she doesn't tell anything to others at all." Hearthstone explained with a smirk playing on his scaly lips. "I think I should get back to my fa- I mean, the King now. He may want me to help Ames with something.."  
"Okay."  
"Bye." Micky and I waved to him as he backed away from the room, turned around and left. When the sound of his scales dragging along the floor disappeared I cast a knowing look at my curly-haired friend.  
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked him. He shrugged. "Is it 'I'm tired of all this cleaning'?" he asked.  
I laughed at that and shook my head. "No – I was thinking that he looks an awful lot like Elderon _and _he almost called him 'father'!"  
"So if he really is his father that means Rosco isn't the next heir..." Micky slowly said. I nodded to confirm his assumption.  
"It's Hearthstone."  
"Why aren't the other dragons treating _him_ like he's the next king? He's supposed to be."  
"Someone's hiding something." I muttered, a new idea sparking in my mind. "And we're going to find out what!"

"What you're saying is; after we left, you and Micky met a dragon that's _really_ supposed to be the new king?" Peter asked. I nodded in response. "Exactly."  
"'ow are you sure that 'e's supposed to be the new king?" David asked, crossing his arms.  
"Um... we aren't." Micky murmured. David waved a hand dismissively and turned to look at the others. "See? They're just makin' it up."  
"We're not making it up!" I exclaimed in defense.  
"I believe them." Jen spoke up. "Hearthstone does resemble Elderon and I once heard that he had a son, but Rosco claimed that it was a rumor."  
"How are we supposed to reveal that Hearthstone is the rightful heir?" Mike asked her, as well as all of us. Jen shrugged. "We could ask Elderon to tell everyone..." she suggested. "But I don't thing he'd be able to make a trip out of his cave and the cave won't fit everyone."  
"What about the little elf guy?" I said. "We could ask him to send the message to everyone."  
"I am no' a li'l messengah boy!" the squeaky voice exclaimed. We turned around to find the little elf standing behind us, his hands on his hips. He glared at us furiously – I could nearly see the smoke rising out of his ears and nose, "'ow did ye find ou' abou' 'earthstone being Eldeh'on's son?"  
"So he is, then?" I smiled widely. The elf looked a little taken aback but then he let out a little squeak of frustration.  
"Wha' else do ye know?"  
"We know that Rosco is a dirty rat!" Micky exclaimed. The elf chuckled, "'e's much biggah than a rat."  
"Why don't they want Hearthstone to be king?" David asked the elf for all of us.  
"They're no' the problem – 'earthstone 'imself doesn't want to be king." the elf explained. "'e's scared tha' 'e will ruin e'erythin'!"  
"I be' – uh, I bet he'd be a great king!" I stumbled with my words for a moment. The elf guy's speech was beginning to rub off on me.  
"Ye'd 'ave to convince 'im o' tha'."  
"How hard could that be?" Mike shrugged. "Why don't we go find him and tell him?"  
"If ye want to take tha' chance, go a'ead." the elf told us. "Bu' don't mention me name!"  
"We won't." Peter assured. "Where do you think Hearthstone is, anyway?"  
"'e's probably lookin' in Rosco's ol' cave – tha's where 'e's goin' to live when Rosco is king."

We eventually found Hearthstone where the elf guy said he would be and slowly, but surely, got around to the subject of him being Elderon's son.  
"I-I don't want to be the new king."  
"You're scared that you might mess things up?" Peter asked, although we already knew from what the elf told us.  
Hearthstone heaved a sigh, "Something like that."  
"Something like that...? Why are you letting Rosco take over?"  
"Because... he's-he's older and bigger and stronger than me." Hearthstone said cautiously. "It only makes sense for him to be king instead of me."  
I smirked in understanding. "I see what you're talking about."  
"Y-you do?" he stammered in question and I nodded.  
"Sure – he's older and he's a bully and you're scared that he'll hurt you if you fill in the role." I explained. "Deep down inside you know you'll do a better job at being king than he will."  
Hearthstone slowly nodded, sheepishly, "Yeah..."  
"How did you know all of that, Theron?!" Micky asked, astonished, and I rolled my eyes.  
"For one, it's pretty obvious, okay? We've all seen the way Rosco is and how scared Hearthstone acted when we said something about him being in the king's caves, yeah?" I proclaimed. "And, also, I used to be an heir too. You can't forget that."  
"You were?" Hearthstone asked and I shrugged. "Yeah, but not anymore, I think. My parents wanted to get me hitched to some snob and I ran away – you know how it goes..."  
"Ah."

"How are we going to make you king?" Peter asked Hearthstone, having decided to change the subject. Hearthstone looked like he shrugged. "It's you humans' idea."  
"Actually, it's only Micky and Theron's idea." David interjected.  
"The king has to crown the new king, doesn't he?" Micky asked me. I shrugged, "My brother's father-in-law crowned him king – but most of the time it's done by one of the advisers or whatever, since commonly the king dies before he's ready to turn over his spot."  
"Then we could get Elderon to crown him!"  
"Oh, Father was going to do that anyway." Hearthstone said. Micky grinned, "That's convenient."  
"But, Rosco has threatened that he'll do away with me after Father dies – then he'll inherit the throne."  
"Oh, no he won't! Theron's smart – she could do something to keep him from doing anything like that." Micky smiled, patting my back.  
"I can?!" I hissed at him.  
"Sure you can!" That dumb smile was still spread across his face like jam on bread and I glared at him.  
_'Great. He's gotten me into something that I don't know how to do.'_


	5. Chapter 5

_'Gosh, Micky and his big mouth! Why did he have to do that?!' _I thought grouchily, sweeping up Slategray's sleeping quarters. _'He had to go and put me on the spot like that and now I have no idea what to do!'_  
"Theron..."  
The small dust pile in the middle of the room was continuing to grow as I swept more and more.  
_'What does he expect me to do about it? I don't know how to deal with problems so why does he think I ran away – hey, I could do that, I could run away and not tell anyone – no... I need to stop that and face my problems.' _  
"Theron!"  
_'Running doesn't help – it just hurts people ...or it will in this case, at least. Hearthstone is really great and it'd be a shame for him to die at the hands– er, claws, of that dirty liar, Rosco.' _  
"THERON!"  
I blinked myself out of my place of thought and looked over at the source of the shout. It was Peter, standing in the (rather giant) doorway.  
"Huh?" I tapped the broom onto the floor a couple times to get the extra dust and dirt off.  
"I called you three times..." he raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine." I shrugged. "I was just thinking."  
"It must be really important, then." Peter leaned casually in the doorway. "You looked a little depressed."  
"That happens when I'm thinking hard." I said, sweeping a little more.  
"I know that."  
I swept up the pile and carried it out to the cave entrance with Peter following right behind me. We walked out of the center and to the back woods where I threw the dust.  
"Anyway, I came to see if you needed any help. I don't have much to do."  
"Oh, I'm almost done for today, so..."  
"Okay." Peter nodded. "Erm, do you want to talk about what you've been thinking on so hard?"  
"Maybe later, Peter." I smiled kindly. He nodded in understanding and adjusted the hat on his head before departing.

I had my nose stuck in a book by the time Slategray was back in the cave. She had been participating in some sort of dragon meeting while she was gone, as far as I knew.  
When I noticed that she was back I pushed a big bowl of her dinner to her.  
"Here, it's still hot." I breathed heavily, wiping my hands on my pants.  
"Thank you." she said before breathing fire into the fire place in front of her. I nodded and turned to get back to my book when she spoke again.  
"You know, it would be nice to have some company for dinner."  
"Oh, I'm sorry." I apologized and settled myself in a chair near to her. "I thought you'd have a lot to think about if you just came home from a meeting or something."  
"And why would you think that?" she asked, her lips curving into a smile that showed a few of her teeth.  
"My dad and mom always had a lot to think about after meetings." I shrugged. "I just thought everyone was like that."  
"Oh, no, not me." she still wore her smile. "I think about those things to help me fall asleep at night!"  
"Oh!" we shared a laugh and after recovering I said, "If my sister thought too hard while she was trying to go to sleep she would have nightmares."  
Slategray lightly nudged at me with her claw, "We're learning about each other – that's good!"  
I grinned up at her and my mind began to wander as she ate. When I was struck with an idea I thought it over before speaking it aloud.  
"Um, since we're learning about each other... can I ask you something?" I asked and Slategray nodded.  
"Okay... I-I have some unfinished business at home, you see, and I need some advice."  
"Ask away!" she said and she turned back to her food to eat some more. I folded my hands together and idly tapped my feet on the floor.  
"After my father dies my cousin is going to get all of my father's land when my brother is supposed to." I said but then corrected myself. "Well, actually, my brother will inherit it all but after my father is out of the way I'm afraid my cousin is going to hurt or ever kill my brother so he can take it all. What do you think I should do about it?"  
"I, personally, would give that cousin of yours another option – since after your father is gone he won't be able to do anything about. Yes, give your cousin another option that he will like better than what he's trying to get now. That way he'll get something he wants and your brother won't be harmed out of greed."  
"Thank you, Slategray!" I smiled, genuinely grateful. "That's fantastic, thank you!"  
"Not a problem, my dear, it's my pleasure." she smile back. "...oh, I've almost forgotten, have you eaten today?"  
I nodded a yes in response and she nodded in satisfaction and approval and continued to eat.

As soon as I was up and ready in the morning, I ran straight out to talk with Peter.  
We sat out at the south end of the caves, which were usually deserted besides the occasional rabbit, bird or squirrel.  
"You're looking and acting better today." Peter noted with a smirk as I inspected some small plants on the edge of the woods.  
"Yeah." I replied, plucking a sprig off of a plant and sniffing it. "I know what to do about my problem." I shrugged, pocketing the sprig. "So I'm a little less stressed today."  
"What's the problem – is that what you were thinking about yesterday?  
"Yes, it's the same thing as yesterday; Micky said that I could handle Hearthstone's problem when I really had no idea of what to do about it myself. But Slategray gave me some great advice and I think I can do it."  
"You _told_ her?"  
"Not exactly. I told her that the issue was between my cousin and brother, not Rosco and Hearthstone."  
"Oh, okay." Peter breathed a sigh of relief and I rolled my eyes at him. "What did she say?"  
"She said, and I quote, 'give your cousin another option that he will like better than what he's trying to get now. That way he'll get something he wants and your brother won't be harmed out of greed'."  
"Oh, I see – that's very good, actually." Peter nodded in approval. "But what are you going to do?"  
He was whittling a piece of wood now, glancing up at me through his brownish-blond hair every so often, ready to listen to what I had to say.  
"I think I should go home and convince my dad to let Rosco live near the castle, to maybe guard it or something, and build his own colony there. So, if he does that, he would be the lead dragon by default and all the other dragons that join should love and respect him and such, you know?"  
"What if he decides to cause trouble?" Peter pointed out in question and he blew on the wood to get some extra wood shavings off. "Like, kill everyone in the castle and tear it down or take it over?"  
"He won't." I said, assuring Peter and also myself. "We'll have to make sure he won't – if Dad fears that he might do such a thing he'll just move Rosco out further from the castle and people."  
"And that's your plan?"  
"Yep."  
"Okay."

We both turned our heads when we heard some rustling in the bushes. Peter continued to whittle away as he stared out at the woods. I was about to throw the rock in my hand into the bushes when Micky tumbled out. I smirked, the memory of when we first met him crossing my mind.  
"Not trying to steal anything, are you?" I joked, tossing the rock aside. He raised an eyebrow quizzically before smiling broadly. "No, not this time, Kid."  
"What were you doing?" Peter asked, a small smile on his face as he remembered as well.  
"That little elf guy chased me out here." Micky grinned with a very mischievous look in his eye as we stared at him curiously.  
"I took his hat." Micky explained, shrugging. "No big deal; I just wanted to have a little fun." He proceeded to ask us what we were doing out near the woods and Peter replied.  
"Talking." he was still whittling away and I wondered what he was trying to make. I continued for him, "But if you think you need to have a say...?"  
"A say? A say in what?" Micky asked with slight confusion.  
"My new plan."  
"A plan for what?"  
"What you dragged me into, you genius!" I swatted the back of his head, but didn't hit him hard. He smirked. "Oh."

We decided that it would probably be best for all of us to get together so I only had to explain the plan once and wouldn't have to repeat myself. That's what we did but, as always, we disguised our get-together as helping Micky clean Rosco's cave.  
"So, Theron, what's your plan?"  
"Well, someone needs to convince Rosco to want to make his own colony somewhere else and I'll just get my dad to write a letter or something."  
"That means you'd have to leave." David asserted. Jen frowned, "What about Slategray?"  
"She can take care of herself like before, can't she?"  
Jen shrugged and Mike spoke up, "I saw our horses at the east end – I remember Granite talking about eating them when Rosco becomes king... as I celebratory thing, I think."  
"I am _not_ letting them eat Reese!"  
"They're not going to eat Reese." Peter said, rolling his eyes a little. "Especially if you're out traveling on him."  
"What about the other horses?" Micky pointed out and Peter heaved a sigh. "We're not going to let them eat the horses – if this all goes according to plan they won't even think about it."  
"How long do you think Elderon has?" I asked Jen – she was about to reply when the elf ran in.  
"I want me hat back!" he shouted, storming over to Micky - who attempted to hold back a snicker as he pretended to not know where it was.  
I huffed in annoyance, "Mick, just give him his hat."  
"I don't know where it's at!" he tried to act innocent but was grinning like a fool. I glared daggers at him. "Micky."  
"Fine." he sighed. "How about we make a deal with him and _then_ I give him his hat back?"  
I shrugged, "Sure – how about it, erm..."  
"Me name is Ames!" he furrowed his brown. "An' I suppose so abou' the deal – AS LONG AS I GET ME HAT BACK!"  
"You'll get your hat back, Ames, even if it means I have to slice Micky's ear off."  
Micky gasped and feigned hurt, covering both of his ears which caused me and Peter to roll our eyes.  
We then explained the plan to Ames and, surprisingly, he thought it was pretty good – better than trying to kill Rosco, that'd just make all the other dragons turn and kill us.  
Now to put the plan into action.


	6. Chapter 6

The deal that we made with Ames was; he'd convince Rosco to move away and start his own colony and we would give him his hat back.  
That morning, Ames made plenty of points, like; 'you wouldn't have to compete to be king', 'dragons would have more land' and 'if you were friendly with the human king you'd have his side in all the problems (as long as they were within reason)'.  
He had Rosco hooked on the idea as soon as he mentioned that he wouldn't have to compete to be king of his little colony.  
"And, Theron is actually the 'ooman king's daughteh!" Ames proclaimed to him. "She could persuade 'im to give ye some land a ways from 'is palace!"

Rosco agreed happily and Ames came out of his cave to tell us what happened. The six of us were conveniently waiting right outside of Rosco's cave so Ames didn't have to look far for us.  
"Alright, Theron, ye can go." he said and then his relieved expression turned fierce. "Now where's me hat?!"  
I nudged Micky who reluctantly revealed the hat, pulling it out of his shirt. Ames looked terribly disgusted as he snatched his hat from him and stormed off.

As we walked down the hall we talked about me leaving for my parents' help.  
"You'll need someone to protect you." Jen pointed out and I shrugged, "David could come with me."  
"Him?!" Micky busted out laughing. "Are you kidding?"  
David frowned in annoyance and I defended him. "Shut up, Micky." I lightly punched his shoulder. "David and I are pretty much the same height and weight and we're both pretty strong for our size. We could watch each others backs."  
David agreed and Micky shrugged dismissively. "If you really want to do that..."  
"They'll be fine as long as they have weapons." Peter said, sounding pretty confident in us. I smiled triumphantly and shot Micky a look that said 'I win!'  
He raised up his hands in surrender and we prepared ourselves for the long journey eastward.

"Do you know which way to go?" Peter asked with concern lacing every one of his words. I nodded confidently and he patted Reese's side.  
"Alright." he smiled up at me. "Hurry straight there and back, okay?"  
"We've got it." David said, adjusting himself in his saddle. With our final well wishes, David and I ran our horses out of the broken circle of caves and into the dense woods.

When we had been traveling for about an hour (and were finally on a narrow dirt path) David looked up at the sun, slightly shielding his eyes from the rays, and then pointed in a direction. "That way." he said.  
He tapped his horse's sides with his heels and steered it in the right direction. Reese and I followed closely behind and we rode in silence for a while.  
I felt a little awkward being quiet for most of the ride since I was accustomed to talking and joking while on trips (thanks to Peter and Micky). I cleared my throat and started talking to clear that up.  
"So, David, uh, how long do you think this is going to take?" I asked. "You know, to get there..?"  
"Well..." he said before taking a breath. "I guess I' shouldn't take too long since we weren't too far from yer kingdom when the dragon took us away."  
"But I saw the dragon fly over towns and forests and things – I didn't black out, David."  
"'ey, I can't 'elp bein' a li'l creeped out by 'eights." David defended himself. "Besides," he said, "The dragon that grabbed us 'appens to be the one I got paired up with. 'e said that 'e made a wrong turn oveh Blackburn – where evah tha' is."  
"Hmm..." I muttered. "I see."  
Reese walked around a stump of a tree that was in the middle of his path, following David's horse.  
"So how long?" I asked, wanting an exact answer.  
Probably abou' six to eight hours." David shrugged. I caught up with him so that we were right beside each other.  
"It'll be getting dark by the time we get there, then, if we don't stop." I said. "And Dad's guards rarely _ever_ let strangers in when it's dark or even getting dark."  
"But yer 'is daughteh." David frowned, slightly confused. I shrugged. "He probably isn't going to think it's too important. He'll probably think I've decided I've had enough of being out on my own and that I want to be back home."  
"'is daughteh 'aving enough of life away from 'ome is unimportant?"  
"Most likely." I smirked. "He'd laugh in my face and say 'I told you so!' or something dumb like that."  
David grunted in response and I stopped talking for a while after that, thinking about what he said.

We took a break and strayed a little from the path to get to a stream.  
I hopped off of my horse and David followed suit. We lead the horses to the stream and let them drink from it.  
I leaned against a tree and David tossed an apple to me and reached back into the bag of food for one for himself. I rubbed the apple on the thigh of my pant leg and bit into it. I looked up through the trees at the sun, just as David did before and found that it was probably around noon time.  
"A quarter of the way there." I noted. David sat beside me and began to think aloud.  
"It was about ten when we left and we're a quarter of the way there... so at this rate it'll be about six when we get there."  
I smiled. "Maybe one of my brothers will be outside when we get there."  
"Maybe." David shrugged. "But I don't really want to meet the one that caught us – he treated us 'orribly."  
"Phillip?" I laughed. "I bet he was doing that to win over a girl's heart – that, or he was just too happy to see me."  
"I 'ope 'e doesn't get too excited." David grinned. "I might 'ave to beat 'im up before 'e can get to me."  
"Don't worry, short stuff, I'll protect you."  
He rolled his eyes and stood up. "We should 'it the road again before it gets too late."  
I agreed and stood, handing the rest of my apple to Reese. I wiped my hands on my pants and, once Reese was finished, David and I lead our horses back to the path and started off again.

By the time we reached the pathway, leading up to the palace gates, the sun was getting low and I could tell that Reese was very tired.  
As soon as we reached the top of the hill I spotted the palace walls and a few small figures that could only be the guards. I tapped at Reese's sides to make him go faster and he sped up to a steady gallop. He must have recognized the land because he didn't seem to want to slow down. David followed suit and lagged a little behind as we got even closer to my old home.  
"Harold!" I shouted to catch the guards' attention. The four guards at the gate stood their ground and two of them drew their swords. I pulled at the reins and Reese quickly halted.  
I slid down from the saddle and lead Reese over to the guards. "It's me, Theron, and this is Reese!" I smiled, relieved that we were finally there.  
Harold recognized me but, unfortunately, not David. He pulled me behind him to protect me and pointed his sword at David.  
I forcefully pushed Harold's sword down sideways and said, "This is David – Phillip dragged him back here with me last time, if you do remember." Harold grunted in response and signaled for the gate to be opened as the he and another of the men sheathed their weapons. "I reckon you're wanting to ask for her father's blessing." he grumbled, looking straight at David.  
David, getting down from his horse, raised his brow and I laughed. "Oh no, Harold, I don't want to marry him – no offense, David."  
David raised his hand to show that he didn't take it as an insult and I continued. "I have some business out there and I need Dad to help."  
"It better not be with an enemy!" Harold warned in a growl. I rolled my eyes, "They're not enemies but they're also not allies – I think they'd make good ones though."  
"Good allies."  
"Yes. Now can I go see him?" I asked and then added, "You know my temper is as bad as his."  
Harold let us go through and we handed our horses off to be taken to the stables.

After a few steps I began to run, unable to contain my urgency and excitement. I ran all the way to the front doors with David following closely at my heels. As soon as I got to the giant double doors, I tore them open and rushed in.  
When I saw the inside I remembered exactly how to get anywhere from that spot at the front door - I guessed that that was never going to change.  
I darted into the throne room to find my parents talking to their royal adviser. "Mom! Dad!" I shouted, beaming with joy. When my mom saw and heard me she almost fainted on the spot. I ran up to them, ignoring the adviser, and gave each of them a hug.  
"Dad, I need your help." I said, cutting right to the chase. He raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to go on.  
"The dragons that we're staying with have a problem and we want to help them." I rushed through my words quickly. "I already have an idea but I need you to do something for me so we can finish it."  
"Dragons?!" Mom exclaimed. I shot her an apologetic half smile and went on talking with Dad.  
"All you have to do is write a document or something stating that the dragon king's nephew, Rosco, can have some of the land behind the palace – you still have that, right?"  
He nodded and began to ask questions. "Why do I need to give this dragon my land, _why_ are you associating with dragons and _who_ is that?" he pointed at David behind me. I nearly forgot about him!  
"I'm David." he slightly bowed and answered the questions for my dad because I was being squeezed unmercifully by Mom.  
"Once the dragon king dies and 'is son is king 'is son is going to be killed by Rosco. We persuaded 'im, Rosco that is, to leave and come live in the mountains behind your palace." he explained. "If you can get along with 'im, you can both sign the papeh stating that you'll 'ave peace 'til the end of time."  
"And we were staying with dragons because they snatched us up one night from our campsite." I managed to get out of my mother's death-like grip. "They're awfully friendly, though." I finished with a smile.  
Dad sighed and rang a bell for some servants to come in.  
"I'll think about it." he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. I frowned, "But we need to get back as soon as possible! The dragon king could die at any moment!"  
Regardless of my protests, he ordered the servants to take us to some rooms to sleep in for the night and to give us fresh clothes, a tub full of water for a bath and dinner.  
I sighed and walked with David as we were escorted away.


	7. Chapter 7

When I got up the next morning, a servant girl brought me breakfast and then, later on, a change of clothes. I looked at the clothes skeptically. It was something that someone of the royal court would wear – and for a lady that would be, that's right, a dress.  
I sighed to myself and let the girl help me get changed before I left the room. I headed straight for the throne room but I didn't find anyone there.  
I quickly turned on my heel and walked back towards my room when I met David in the hall. He too was wearing something similar to me – except his outfit didn't have a skirt, lucky guy.  
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me, "There you are – I couldn't find you."  
"Sorry." I glanced up and down the hall. "I was looking for my dad. We need to hurry up with this and get back."  
"Why don't we just walk around and talk to them later?" David suggested. I shrugged.  
"Well, it's be nice to see everything again." I smiled. "Come on, let's go."

I showed David around a little, finding that the palace hadn't changed at all since I left a little over a year ago, and walked out to one of the back gardens.  
"This was my favorite garden when I was growing up." I told him. "I'd hide from Cassia here and even go on walks with my baby brother."  
"_Baby?!_" a familiar voice exclaimed in mock offense. I turned to find the owner of the voice and found none other than my 'baby' brother, Damon.  
"Theron... is that you?" he asked, studying my face. I nodded and hurried over to give him a hug.  
"I'm not a baby anymore, Theron." Damon stated after I hugged him. I raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"  
"Yep!" he smiled toothily. "I'm seven!"  
I smiled at him, happy to see his face and hear his voice again, and he looked past me at David and said, "Are you getting married to him?"  
A snort of laughter escaped me and David answered the question.  
"No, we're not getting married." I could hear the smile in his voice. "I came with your sister so she wouldn't be alone on the journey."  
"Oh...okay." Damon nodded. "Who are you? Are you Amonian?"  
David laughed, "Yes, I am Amonian. My name is David." he shook hands with my baby brother and they began to talk. Damon was smarter than I expected as I heard him chat with David. It was interesting.

"Yes, I am the heir!" a voice proclaimed proudly from elsewhere in the garden. "What made you think I wasn't?"  
Damon and David didn't seem to notice the voice but, letting my curiosity get the better of me, I followed it to find a tall guy with a curly mop of dark hair walking with a shorter blonde girl.  
They had their backs to me and I grinned. I slowly made my way up to them, making my steps as light as possible and, when I was close enough, I poked the guy in the back.  
He spun around quickly but the glare that was spread across his face soon faded when he saw the smile on mine. It was another of my brothers, Gregory.  
"Theron!" he exclaimed, hugging me as tight as Mom had. "It's so great to see you again!"  
"You too, Greg." I replied, hugging him back. He let me go and stepped back to look at me. "You got taller."  
"Your hair got messier." I smirked and mussed his hair. He swatted my hands away and tried to tame the even bigger mess that I'd made.  
"When did you get here?" he asked.  
"Last night." I said. "I'm surprised that I didn't see any of you guys when we got here."  
"Wait – _we_?" he stopped me. "Who's 'we'?"  
"Oh, one of the guys tagged along." I explained. "And, no, we're _not_ here to get married."  
Gregory raised his eyebrow at me before introducing me to the girl he was with and, after a bit more catching up, leaving with her. I left the gardens a little while after him, forgetting about David and Damon, and went to find Dad.

I found him in his study and I leaned onto his desk. "Have you come to a decision?" I asked.  
Without a word, he handed me a piece of paper. It was a document that he sat and wrote himself, agreeing to let Rosco have the land _if _he agreed to peace and such like.  
I smirked triumphantly and handed the paper back to him. He dipped his pen in the ink and quickly scribbled his signature onto the bottom of the paper.  
"You can bring it back tomorrow." he stated, putting the paper away. "You should visit with the family." I huffed impatiently, "But what about the dragon king?!"  
"He should be fine, Theron."  
"And how do you know that?"  
"It's Elderon, isn't it?" he asked. I nearly fell to the floor when the name escaped his mouth.  
"Y-yeah!" I stammered. "How did you know?"  
"I met him when I was about your age." he shrugged, leaning back into his chair.  
"You know who Elderon is? You met him?!" I exclaimed but Dad only nodded. "How?" I asked.  
"My father, your grandfather, wanted me to go out and kill a dragon – you know, the whole coming of age thing – but once I met the dragons and talked to him I decided against it." he explained. "Elderon was that dragon."  
"Whoa..." I breathed, collapsing into a chair across from his desk.  
"I brought back one of his teeth to try to prove that I'd slain him – thankfully, Father fell for it." Dad chuckled. "Yes, there were plently of other dragons there as well – a medium sized one named Sandstone, a small one called Marble and another... Slategray."  
"Hey, I know Slategray – that's my dragon!" I grinned. Dad smiled in return and then continued.  
"I even met Rosco – he was really small then, but by what you're telling me he hasn't changed much."  
"Oh."  
"But he seemed to like me, though I don't know about that now. From what I remember, he was fascinated with humans."  
"Wow." I muttered and Dad went on to tell about the dragons and everything he did with them before he came back home.

After we ate our lunch, David and I headed out to the stables and there I found Lady, Reese, David's horse and my older brother, Phillip, brushing his old black horse.  
"You still love that old guy, don't you?" I smirked, walking up to Lady to pet her. Phillip slowly looked up at me and smirked.  
"I knew you'd come back some day."  
"Not for long – we're leaving tomorrow." I told him, leaving Lady to pet Reese.  
"Then why are you here?" he asked. David went over to his horse and ignored the two of us and I explained.  
"I have some friends with problems out there and I needed Dad to help."  
Phillip snickered mockingly, "Whatever you say, Theron."  
I rolled my eyes at him and watched him closely as he walked by and out to the large field where we used to train.


	8. Chapter 8

"Do you _have _to leave?" Damon asked, his big, round eyes sparkling up at me. I nodded with a soft smile, "I've got to help my friends, Damon. But I promise I'll come visit, okay?"  
"Okay..." he sighed.  
"We could give you a royal escort!" my mom began but David stopped her.  
"That would be unnecessary." he replied politely. "Thank you, though."  
I took the document (that was inside a leather case) and two swords from Dad. From my perch on Reese, I said goodbye one last time before David and I rode off with our swords at our waists, riding back the way we came. Being eager to get back, we didn't want to take breaks. We were ready to get back and settle things.

About thirty minutes after we left we heard footsteps behind us. We both kept looking around but we didn't see anyone.  
I finally decided to stop after five minutes of the nonsense and looked at the trees to my right. "We know you're out there, what do you want?" I said, annoyed, drawing my sword. No answer came and no one stepped forward.  
"It was probably just an animal." David suggested, looking around. I shook my head.  
"No animal would follow us this long. If it were a panther or a bear it would have already attacked us."  
"Hmm..."  
"C'mon, we could wait all day if you like." I called out to the trees.  
Then a little head with a blood red cloak over it peeked out from behind a tree. The hood over his head cast shadows over his face and he had a bow in his hand and a quiver full of arrows on his back.  
"Hey, Theron..." a familiar voice said as he pushed the hood from his head, revealing his dark hair, a silver circlet with green gems and a familiar baby face.  
"Damon..." I sighed. "Why are you- you know something could have attacked you out here! You're only a kid!"  
"I have my bow and arrows." Damon shrugged, raising his bow up for emphasis.  
"You'll only run out of arrows..." David pointed out.  
"I'm seven, I can protect myself!"  
"Damon, how do you think Mom will feel when she finds you're gone?!"  
"I left a note!"  
"Boy, you better not be turning into me."  
"I'm _not._"  
I raised my hands in surrender. "Okay... it's too late to bring you back and I don't want to send you out there all alone." Damon's face lit up and a big grin cracked across his face.  
"You can come with us."  
He jumped for joy and adjusted the circlet on his head – since it was far too big for him – before scrambling onto Reese behind me. "But..." I raised a finger. "We're going back as soon as summer comes around so Rosco can get his land and when that day comes, if we leave, you're staying behind."  
"Aww, Theron!" Damon whined, "That's only-" he started counting on his fingers, "About seven weeks!"  
I shrugged, "Seven weeks of fun with me, my friends and even... a bunch of dragons!"  
"Dragons?" Damon exclaimed happily, the circlet falling over his eyes. David and I nodded.  
Damon's toothy grin didn't fade for the whole ride as we told him about the dragons, their names, who to trust and what was going on. I even told the both of them what Dad told me and that he and Rosco got along well, so the peace between Dad and the dragons shouldn't be hard to keep.  
"But what about when Greg is King?" Damon asked curiously. I thought on it for a second before answering.  
"Dad is going to have him sign the treaty too, no doubt."  
"Oh.." Damon nodded in understanding.

When we finally got to the caves there was no one out. Damon, seemingly not bothered by that fact, looked around with excitement. "This is it?!"  
"Yup." David slid off of his horse. He was about to help Damon down but he was already off and looking around.  
"Damon, come here." David called to him. "Don't go into any of the caves!" he warned.  
David caught Damon by the arm and told him to never _ever_ tell or show _anyone_ where the caves were. My little brother nodded and raised his right hand to promise. I smiled, happy that he was getting along with at least one of my friends.  
David then took the horses to the makeshift stable that the guys built for them in their spare time and Damon followed behind.  
"Theron!" a pair of arms grabbed me from behind and squeezed me. "Finally! It took you long enough!"  
"Micky," I laughed, freeing myself from his grip, "we were only gone for two days!"  
"We thought you were going and then coming straight back in one day!"  
"Dad made us stay; he wouldn't give me the paper until today and, besides, I had to visit with my family some."  
"Oh.." Micky nodded, seeming to understand and spotted Damon who was now at me side. "Who's the squirt?"  
"I'm Damon!" he grinned, holding out his hand for Micky to shake. Micky slowly shook his hand as he noted the circlet upon my brother's head. "P-prince Damon?" he stammered.  
"C'mon, Mick, he's only royalty." I nudged his arm with my elbow. "No big deal."  
"Where are the dragons?" Damon exclaimed in question, having decided that he was done with the little conversation.  
"In their caves -here..." I replied, grabbing his wrist, "I think you should meet Hearthstone first."

We found Hearthstone in his quarters of the royal caves. Damon immediately introduced himself and the two bowed to each other.  
The circlet fell from Damon's head and he sheepishly grinned whilst putting it back on. "It was my older brother's – it's still too big."  
_'Hm, that's sweet...'_ I thought with a smile. _'Damon got Alexander's old one.'_  
"Hey, where's your crown?" Damon asked, "You _are _a prince, right?"  
"We only wear ours on special occasions." Hearthstone explained and Damon nodded before turning to search the room. "Theron told me about a little elf... what was his name again?" Damon asked. The dragon smirked, "Ames."  
"Oh, yes." Damon said. "Theron said he's kind of grouchy and talks funny."  
I snickered to myself and Hearthstone did as well, "He is... a little."  
And, of course, Ames always has to come in when we're talking about him.  
"Yer fatheh wants to see ye, 'earthstone." Ames said to him, ignoring both me and my brother.  
"Alright, Ames. Can Theron and her brother come too?" Hearthstone asked. "Theron has the letter.." Ames looked over at Damon and me and nodded. "Sure, sure."  
"You're goin' soft, Ames." I bent over slightly to pat his shoulder and he rolled his eyes.  
"I'm Damon!" the little dark-haired prince reached one hand out to Ames (while pushing up his circlet with the other) as we walked through the long halls of the cave. Ames was smaller than Damon by a good bit and, admittedly, that amused me.

We got to Elderon's cave, Damon introduced himself and Elderon and Hearthstone left to talk in private. Damon ran his mouth to Ames while they were gone and I looked around idly.  
When they finally came back, thought, I gave the letter to Ames (after letting Elderon and Hearthstone read it) and we all went out to the center, calling all the dragons out, and the elf read it aloud to everyone.

**[A/N: I'm too lazy to make up what the letter says, so imagine you just read some formal letter stating that Theron's dad is letting Rosco have the mountains many miles from his palace, as long as they can maintain peace. And that the dragons that want to be in Rosco's colony would meet Theron's Dad at his palace the first day of summer and then they could move into the caves after the treaty was signed.  
I'm a horrible author, I know. Don't tell me...I already know.]**

Rosco nodded in agreement and Ames rolled the letter back up before dismissing everyone and went back into the King's cave.  
"Thanks, Theron." Hearthstone smiled gratefully. I shrugged, "No big deal."


	9. Chapter 9

The weeks flew by, each day filled with all of us being more at ease. With Damon there, there was a bit of a change, of course. He rode horses with Peter, chatted with Mike, stick-fought with most of the people out there and he even attempted to teach Micky to be a little more sneaky.

The day soon came when the dragons were to travel to the palace, where my father, brother Gregory, and Rosco sign the treaty and then the dragons that wanted to live with Rosco were going to move into the mountains.  
Hearthstone, Elderon and several of the other dragons stayed behind – since they weren't moving, of course – and it was decided that we ride on the dragons' backs instead of taking 6 to 8 hours to get there by horse.  
Damon happily jumped onto Slategray's back, clad in his freshly washed princely garb, his blood red cloak and his silver circlet. I soon followed his lead while everyone else (that was coming along) found a dragon willing to let them ride and we took off.  
Damon was grinning as the wind whipped his hair from his face. "This has to be the best day of my life!" he exclaimed as he grinned, his eyes closed, but then he opened his eyes and looked back at me, "Besides going home, that is."  
That made me laugh. "Oh, Damon!"

After we landed Damon slowly slid down Slategray's back and dropped down from her leg. He ran up to Mom who embraced him tightly and spoke to him rapidly.  
Although Damon told me he'd told Dad that he was going to follow me and David to the dragons, and that Dad approved, didn't mean that Dad told Mom or that she didn't worry about it.  
I watched Rosco as he talked with Dad. He had a glint of happy realization in his eyes the whole time.  
Gregory, well, he had the same look as Rosco and he couldn't quite keep his excitement contained.  
Though Phillip didn't act too impressed, I knew he was. He always talked about dragons when we were younger and how he always wanted to meet one. Is it just me or did Phillip become arrogant while I was away?

They signed the treaty, shook hands (and, well, claws) and it was all settled. All we had to do was help them move the thousands of pounds of treasure that they had.  
"Mom, can I go with them?" Damon asked gleefully."I want to help!"  
She reluctantly said 'yes', kissed the top of his head and we flew off on Slategray and a couple of other dragons while the remaining few (Rosco and some young ones) went to check out the mountains.

Anyway, fast forward about two months and everyone had their things and ll the human helpers had to do was organize everything in the caves (and there were only a few caves left to organize, so that was a relief!).  
We had already gone back to Elderon's little colony to watch Hearthstone be crowned king and took our horses back.

Slategray dropped the seven of us (me, Damon, David, Micky, Jen, Mike and Peter) at the palace for a visit but we ended up staying longer than planned.  
All because of one thing Mom said to me before we were going to leave.  
"Theron, you have to stay."  
"...why – Mom, I know you want me to but-"  
"Helena's coming."  
"Helena...?"  
"And she's bringing her son... Theron."  
"Theron?"

* * *

**A/N: **The end!  
There will be a third story, being a continuation of this, called _The Enlightened Princess_. It will focus on relationships, rather than adventures. So. If you like that sort of thing, then maybe you'll like what I come up with. :)


End file.
